OK. I need you to pick two of the three for a keeper league. We have a six-man Minor League roster and my system is stacked, to say the least. I need to pick two of three of Billy Butler, Andrew McCutchen, and Carlos Gonzalez. It is a standard 5x5 roto league.

1. Billy Butler is a shoe-in. If it was all about hitting, he'd be a top 3 prospect. As it is, his hitting probably makes him top 5, or very close.

2. I would say McCutchen. Though Gonzalez has crazy upside, it is rumored that he has a poor work ethic. He is a big dude and it seems he could have issues with weight, which would sap his ability to run. There are also still huge questions about whether he will be able to hit any higher than .260 in the Bigs because he Ks so much.

McCutchen does tend to seem to K way too much, but as a 19 year old in AA, that has to be expected. He will start the season at AA as a 20, which is very impressive in itself. He needs to cut down on the Ks, but he has a pretty good approach at the plate as evidenced by his walk totals, which are impressive for a 19 year old. McCutchen has room where he could add 20-25 pounds of muscle and still be able to steal 25-30 bases, and that weight would most certainly help him in the power department.

I am more or less torn between the two. I really like them both. I feel like McCutchen is a safer bet to be a .300-25-25 guy, but I feel like Gonzalez could be a .290-35+-20 guy. Help!

rmande09 wrote:OK. I need you to pick two of the three for a keeper league. We have a six-man Minor League roster and my system is stacked, to say the least. I need to pick two of three of Billy Butler, Andrew McCutchen, and Carlos Gonzalez. It is a standard 5x5 roto league.

1. Billy Butler is a shoe-in. If it was all about hitting, he'd be a top 3 prospect. As it is, his hitting probably makes him top 5, or very close.

2. I would say McCutchen. Though Gonzalez has crazy upside, it is rumored that he has a poor work ethic. He is a big dude and it seems he could have issues with weight, which would sap his ability to run. There are also still huge questions about whether he will be able to hit any higher than .260 in the Bigs because he Ks so much.

McCutchen does tend to seem to K way too much, but as a 19 year old in AA, that has to be expected. He will start the season at AA as a 20, which is very impressive in itself. He needs to cut down on the Ks, but he has a pretty good approach at the plate as evidenced by his walk totals, which are impressive for a 19 year old. McCutchen has room where he could add 20-25 pounds of muscle and still be able to steal 25-30 bases, and that weight would most certainly help him in the power department.

I am more or less torn between the two. I really like them both. I feel like McCutchen is a safer bet to be a .300-25-25 guy, but I feel like Gonzalez could be a .290-35+-20 guy. Help!

I like Gonzalez a little better than I do McCutchen in this case. I don't think weight will be a major issue with him and he certainly has plenty of upside with a good situation to groom that potential.